Non-Scale-Based Solos

[R_of_G]

Those of you who have read my posts have by now probably guessed that I trend towards listening to and playing music that defies genre, and is best termed "experiemental." More often than not these are free jazz or punk bands, but, like I said, it is impossible to pin some of this music down to any specific genre. In that vein, I'm interested in hearing about some other people's favorite non-traditional [ie. not based on scale play] solos. Some of mine, in no specifc order follow...

Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground - Sister Ray
Marc Ribot's Spirtitual Unity Band - the whole album
Marc Ribot's Shrek - Bells
James 'Blood' Ulmer - Theme from Captain Black
Fred Frith - entire body of work
Bill Frisell - John Zorn's Naked City recordings

 

[Ro3b]

I love Tom Morello's work. He appeals to that part of me that's less interested in learning scales and fingerings than in figuring out how to make a guitar sound like a coloratura soprano gnawing on a cinder block.

 

[Robert]

Check out Scott Kinsey - keyboard player. Very cool stuff. He is obviously very inspired by the might Joe Zawinul, the man behind Weather Report.

 

[R_of_G]

Rob, I too love Tom Morello. He is a great example of someone in the mainstream music arena who is not afraid to experiment, and the results almost always are worth his bravery. Wasn't the biggest fan of Audioslave as I am not a fan of Chris Cornell's voice, but I love Rage, and I've read many interviews with Tom from which I have learned a lot of cool stuff about playing electric.

Robert, you def know how to get my attention. One comparison to Joe Zawinul was all I needed. Statisitically speaking, Joe Z is my favorite songwriter of all time as he wrote 2 of my 3 favorite pieces of music, "Mercy Mercy Mercy," and "In a Silent Way." The third piece of music in my top 3 by the way is Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" which is hauntingly beautiful. Thanks for the reccomendation Robert, I will be sure to check him out.